The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom | Exhibitions - Library of Congress

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Congress passed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments that granted the newly freed slaves freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. States in the South adopted methods to disenfranchise black voters and instituted “Jim Crow” (segregation) laws mandating the separation of the races in practically every aspect of life.